St. Petersburg 3, Moscow 0 – Antti Niemi was the difference in an evenly played game between the league’s two Russian teams Wednesday. The Finnish netminder shut out Moscow, making 33 saves along the way. It was his first shutout of the season and fourth in a Red Star uniform. He recorded 8 more shutouts in his time with Milan and Gothenburg. After a scoreless first period, Jan Kovar, the league’s second-leading rookie scorer, earned an assist on a Wayne Simmonds goal and then scored himself less than 3 minutes later. Brad Richards also had a goal and an assist for St. Petersburg. The Red Stars have won 3 of the 4 meetings between the two teams this season.
Stockholm 6, Oslo 2 – Mike Richards had a 5-point game and Derick Brassard scored 4 points as the Eagles soared past Oslo in Norway. Both players had 4 shots on goal. Brassard scored 3 times and Richards twice. Oslo played from behind since Bobby Ryan opened the scoring with his 18th goal of the season just over a minute into the contest. Still, Oslo’s Mikhail Grabovski display a never-say-die attitude, getting off 7 shots on the Stockholm goal and picking up a goal and an assist. His linemates, Matt D’Agostini and Curtis Glencross also had two points apiece. Stockholm has won 7 of their last 10 games and are in 5th place in the Northern Conference. The loss was the 12th straight for Oslo, putting them tied with Munich at the bottom of the standings.
Madrid 4, Zurich 2 – The Royals played very well at home, outshooting the Lions 31-14. Smooth-skating defenseman Erik Karlsson was named the game’s first star, picking up two assists and scoring on the only shot he took. Derek Stepan had a goal and an assist for Madrid, while Tomas Tatar did the same for Zurich. Special teams played a key role in the game. Madrid scored on two of their four man advantages while they kept Zurich’s powerplay units from scoring on five different occasions.
Lisbon 3, Minsk 0 – Lisbon was leading a close game by two goals when the third period started and they turned on the gas and never gave Minsk a chance to come back. Shots were 20-19 in favor of the Hussars when the period began, but Lisbon outshot Minsk 22-5 in the third period. Karri Ramo had 4 shutouts while his team played in Frankfurt, Germany, and he now has 4 shutouts since the team moved to Portugal. Steven Stamkos scored a pair of goals for Lisbon and teammate Shea Weber had two assists. Lisbon is now 4th overall in the league.
Bern 4, Bratislava 3 (shootout) – Tobias Enstrom scored the first two goals of the game for Bern and then he scored as the first shooter in the shootout, leading Bern to a win on home ice. Enstrom also assisted on a Jack Skille goal that made it 3-0 Bern late in the second period. The third period saw Bratislava storm back and tie the game. Center Milan Gulas ignited the rally with his 6th of the season and former Copenhagen Trident forwards Troy Brouwer and Matt Frattin followed his goal with tallies of their own. Bern defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Brent Seabrook played like they were auditioning for a role with the Helsinki Jokerit. Seidenberg delivered 8 hits, while Seabrook had 7 to go with 2 assists. Bears penalty killers might have saved the game for Bern because Bratislava’s powerplay units went 0 for 6.
Athens 5, Geneva 0 – Four Greek skaters powered their team past Geneva Wednesday. Dustin Byfuglien, T.J. Oshie, Ryan O’Reilly and David Backes all scored 2 points in the game and they combined for 23 shots on goal. Geneva as a team had just 18. O’Reilly was best plus-minus player at plus 3, and Byfuglien scored two goals. He now has 13 on the season, more than any other defenseman in the league. Byfuglien is the all-time leading goal scorer among defensemen with 89 in 339 games. Shea Weber has 74 and Tobias Enstrom has 70. Steven Stamkos is tops all-time among all positions in goals with 193 and in points with 493.
